So while there may be a few that want to brand Snowden as a criminal, quite clearly there is a substantial number of people that have taken notice of what he's presented the world with and are going forward with that to bring about change, vindicating his choice of action and thus making him a hero.

Duh. Spy versus spy has been going on since time immemorial. Whether en masse or 1:1, it is the nature of individuals and nations. What surprises me is how long it has taken so many people to wake up and smell the coffee regarding cyber and telecom semi-surveillance. The Union and the Rebels tapped into each others' telegraph lines. Since the advent of the telephone, wiretapping has been rampant. My only comment about that jerky Snowden kid is that Booz Allen Hamilton didn't do a better job of vetting him. I am actually more concerned about the way big corporations are tracking my movements on the internet. It's no coincidence that I am regularly bombarded with ads from companies I've done business with along with allied companies that I have never heard of. Big business is selling my demographic and psychographic profile to whomever wants to purchase it. If a 29-year-old kid is able to raise so much havoc, I am seriously concerned about the state of our nation's data collection and analysis capabilities.

Interesting stuff, Pop, but Booz Allen doesn't do background investigations for high-level security clearances, and it doesn't approve or disapprove them. Considering what Snowden had access to, I'd guess he had to have had a top secret clearance plus a SIGINT compartmented clearance. Unless things have changed an awful lot in the couple decades since I got my clearances, Snowden filled out a multi-page form and gave all sorts of details about his birthplace, residences, schools, jobs, etc. Once the forms were in the hands of the government it took several months for the background investigation to complete. You'd find that agents had talked to your parents, teachers, neighbors, employers and friends. Since we now know a bit about his background it's incredible that he was able to get any sort of clearance, much less top-secret, SIGINT. Somebody in the government really screwed up, or else things have gotten a hell of a lot slacker in the past few years.

I might agree if I knew more about the details, Bob, but in the end the government is the outfit that decides to whom it will give access to our secrets. Booz Allen made a big mistake by hiring a flake like Snowden, but without government clearance they couldn't have given him access to the stuff he stole. If somebody at Booz did that without Snowden having the proper clearance that person should be in the federal pen right now.

Booz Allen noted discrepancies in his resume and still hired him. I'd say they are as much at fault as whatever gov't agency or agencies conducted his background check.

dear... Booz is just a glorified bodyshop trying to score a placement... the only difference between 'em and some Raj operating from a basement in VA is that Booz is higher up in a food chain and charges more.

I am actually more concerned about the way big corporations are tracking my movements on the internet. It's no coincidence that I am regularly bombarded with ads from companies I've done business with along with allied companies that I have never heard of. Big business is selling my demographic and psychographic profile to whomever wants to purchase it. If a 29-year-old kid is able to raise so much havoc, I am seriously concerned about the state of our nation's data collection and analysis capabilities.

Let me put it another way for you.

You and the data that Google gains from you using the Internet is what it sells to companies that want to advertise.

You provide that information to companies such as Google free of charge.

You give your demographic away to Google and they sell it to other companies, including those that are clearing houses or gateway providers of information to the US government.